Foxconn Technology Group is reconsidering plans for its first U.S. plant, which promised a $10 billion investment and up to 13,000 jobs in southeastern Wisconsin, raising questions about the future of a project seen as vital to the region’s economic development.

At least one resident questioned whether the plant will end up being good for taxpayers, while some local economic development officials said the facility could still provide a boost for the region.

Now, it “feels like things are just in flux,” said Kevin Considine, president and CEO of nonprofit economic development organization Lake County Partners, in Lincolnshire, Ill.

The Taiwanese electronics giant, which supplies Apple, said Wednesday that it is considering adding research and development work to a facility that it originally said would focus on manufacturing.

“As we have previously noted, the global market environment that existed when the project was first announced has changed,” the company said in a statement. “As our plans are driven by those of our customers, this has necessitated the adjustment of plans for all projects, including Wisconsin.”

The statement said Foxconn is still committed to the creation of 13,000 jobs and its long-term investment in Wisconsin, but a spokeswoman declined to give more details on how its plans had changed.

The state’s “performance-based contract with Foxconn provides the company the flexibility to make these business decisions, and at the same time, protects Wisconsin’s taxpayers,” Mark Hogan, chief executive and secretary of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, said in a statement. “As has been reported, Foxconn will not qualify for tax credits until, at the earliest, 2020, and then only if the company meets its annual job creation and capital investment requirements. Our ongoing discussions with company officials reflect Foxconn’s continued commitment to the State of Wisconsin.”

The decision comes amid escalating tension between the U.S. and China over trade. Foxconn manufactures many of its products in China, such as cellphone components that are shipped abroad. The company is likely facing pressure from both sides.

However, the longer-term concern for Foxconn seems to be keeping up with technology markets, said Tim Sheehy, president of Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce.

Foxconn’s vision of two years ago has been disrupted by changing economic conditions and consumer demand, he said.

“Everyone says we have to hold Foxconn to their commitment,” Sheehy said. “I don’t want to hold Foxconn to invest in a buggy whip factory while we’ve got the first cars rolling off the assembly line. That makes no sense.”

Money is already flowing into the area — on both sides of the Wisconsin-Illinois border — and local officials and contractors remain optimistic about the project’s economic impact.

After all, the Foxconn project is “the biggest thing that happened to Wisconsin since the Green Bay Packers,” said Rebecca Seaton, owner of Rockford-based R.A. Seaton Contractor Services, which was hired to haul dirt and materials to prepare for construction on the Foxconn site and nearby roads.

The construction work she’d been hired to do is moving ahead as planned, she said. Even if the company changes what it’s producing in Mount Pleasant, Seaton said it still represented an opportunity for the region.

Foxconn promised a state-of-the-art liquid crystal display manufacturing plant, big enough to hold five Merchandise Marts, on 1,200 acres. President Donald Trump attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the plant in June 2018.

Foxconn said in its statement that it was still considering making products such as TV sets at the facility. However Reuters, which first reported the news, said Foxconn planned to dial that back, citing the expensive costs of making advanced TV screens in the U.S. It also reported that the pace of hiring would be slower than originally projected.

“In terms of TV, we have no place in the U.S.,” Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn Chief Executive Terry Gou, told Reuters. “We can’t compete.”

Foxconn said Wednesday that it would consider new applications for the technology behind those TVs, called thin-film transistor, or TFT, technology. Reports emerged last summer that there was an oversupply of large TFT LCD panels, often used in TVs, and producers would likely cut back.

The project has faced criticism over the nearly $4 billion in state and local initiatives and Foxconn’s history of not following through on ambitious U.S. factory announcements.

Foxconn announced in October 2017 that it would build the plant in the village of more than 26,000 people about 60 miles north of Chicago. State and local officials sprung into action, offering incentives and anticipating a wave of development and workforce development needs.

Investors planned ahead for related businesses, and landowners near the project site began to worry about whether they’d have to move out of the development’s way.

Local colleges and universities also began training a pipeline of potential employees. Kenosha’s Gateway Technical College added an advanced manufacturing curriculum and new lab space. The school said at the time that the scale of Foxconn’s plans helped Gateway expedite the growth of its manufacturing program.

When the project was announced, Considine, of Lake County Partners, said he was optimistic there would be spillover benefits for Illinois since manufacturing projects tend to attract suppliers and purchase products and services from nearby businesses.

If Foxconn shifts some of the work done in Wisconsin to research, it could affect the types of jobs Foxconn is looking to fill and opportunities for other businesses in the region, Considine said.

“It’s definitely a change in what the opportunity looks like, but it’s too soon to say what the impact will be,” he said. “It’s still a big project in our region and I certainly don’t want to see it go away.”

Local resident Kim Mahoney isn’t so sure the project will end up being a good deal for taxpayers. Even if Foxconn ends up hiring as many workers as promised, the types of jobs matter, she said.

“Everyone was saying, ‘Racine needs manufacturing jobs.’ That’s how it was billed,” she said. “I am for jobs, it’s just the amount of incentives promised for these jobs.”

Mahoney is one of the homeowners living on land promised to Foxconn who, when the deal was announced, felt forced to move to make way for development.

The village said it has since worked with property owners to acquire most of that land, paying 140 percent of what it considers fair market for homes. Mount Pleasant has acquired about 97 percent of the area that’s part of the first phase of development and about 82 percent of the total area earmarked for Foxconn.

Those acquisitions, so far, haven’t included Mahoney’s property. Mahoney said she is scheduled to discuss the sale with local officials in a few weeks, after rejecting an initial offer in April.

Local governments are not worried about Foxconn’s commitment to the region waning. The electronics maker has already invested more than $200 million in Wisconsin, including through construction contracts, according to a statement from Racine County and Mount Pleasant leaders.

The first 120,000-square-foot building on Foxconn’s campus is complete, and the next phase of construction is set to start this spring. Plus, the statement said, the development agreements Foxconn entered into are legally binding and include “strong protections for taxpayers.”

“We understand that Foxconn must be nimble in responding to market changes to ensure the long-term success of their Wisconsin operations,” the statement said. “We fully expect that Foxconn will meet its obligations to the state, county and village.”

The incentive package Foxconn signed totals nearly $4 billion, but the actual amount the company receives is dependent on job creation quotas. It fell short with the 178 full-time jobs it created in 2018, and did not claim its funds, according to a letter the company sent to Wisconsin officials. It can still earn the credits down the road if it makes up for the deficit.